


One Small Step

by TheSilverPhoenix



Series: Historical Hetalia Week 2021 [6]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: 1945 - Present, Anxiety, F/F, Historical Hetalia, Moon Landing, Nyotalia, historical hetalia week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29738319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSilverPhoenix/pseuds/TheSilverPhoenix
Summary: America and England watch as the Apollo 11 mission puts itself on the moon and makes history.
Relationships: America/England (Hetalia)
Series: Historical Hetalia Week 2021 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2178408
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13
Collections: Historical Hetalia Week (February 2021)





	One Small Step

**Author's Note:**

> “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” - Neil Armstrong, July 20th, 1969

_ July 20th, 1969 _

America had been a mess for the past four days. For the past four days, she’d paced and stressed and lost sleep because she couldn’t stop thinking about - couldn’t stop  _ worrying _ about - those three men NASA had shot into space. Those same three men were now hurtling through an airless, gravity-less vacuum towards a giant rock orbiting their planet. And it was entirely possible they wouldn’t come back.

People had come back from space before, sure. Russia had done it first, to her absolute disdain, but she had been quickly behind. This was different. Not only because a crewed moon landing had never been attempted before, but because its success would mark a fundamental stepping stone in the development of space exploration technology. If she could get a man on the moon, there was no telling what else she’d be able to achieve. What she’d be able to learn about things far beyond their tiny planet. But first, they had to prove they were capable of doing so and the ‘could be’s were drowning out all of the logic in her head. 

Things had been so meticulously calculated, yet there was so much more that could go wrong. One tiny, minuscule mistake was all it took. One loose nut. One misplaced decimal. One line in the code. One malfunction.

Some of the smartest people in her entire country had worked tirelessly for months, years, on end for these four short days. Four short days that seemed to stretch out into an eternity.

America had practically glued herself to the television as soon as she could, not daring to change the channel from the live CBS broadcast of the astronauts’ progress. They even had a timer, slowly ticking away at the hours, then minutes, left until the Apollo 11’s  _ Eagle _ landed on the moon’s surface.

_ It should be fine _ , America continually repeated to herself.  _ They should be fine. _

But the thoughts were always quickly followed by others.

_ What if they aren’t? What if we fail? What if they die? _

Would NASA bother trying again? America bristled at the thought of Russia getting there before her. Not because Russia was Russia - okay, well, maybe a little because of that - but because a small part of her had dreamed of touching the stars since she’d been a small colony all those years ago. Human flight had only been the first step, and she craved more. She didn’t want anyone beating her there, much less Russia.

America sat and stared at the TV screen, unable to peel her eyes away from the countdown and crude animation that continually played to represent whatever stage the modules were currently in. She didn’t even register England saying her name until the other nation was standing in front of her, staring at her with a mixture of worry and annoyance.

“America!”

Finally, America managed to snap her attention away from the TV and to England, who crossed her arms in false anger and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yeah?”

“I asked you if you were hungry,” she repeated gently, beginning to realize that the American hadn’t heard her at all.

America paused to think about the question but quickly got caught in the broadcast again. She didn’t want to risk getting up, dividing her attention, and missing it. Instead, she shook her head distractedly at the other nation and chewed at her bottom lip.

“America, have you even eaten all day?”

There was a long paused in which America was a little afraid to answer because she knew England wouldn’t like it. She heard England give an exasperated sigh anyway as she shuffled towards the kitchen.

On the TV, the countdown had broken the fifteen-minute mark. Three minutes until the  _ Eagle _ would break off from the  _ Columbia _ and begin its descent. Fifteen minutes until they would know whether or not all their work was good enough.

Slowly, the time ticked away. Minute by minute. Until, finally, the twelve-minute mark had been hit and she could hear the grainy voice of Neil Armstrong announce that the  _ Eagle _ had begun its descent. On the screen, the countdown continued, now accompanied by altitude and speed statistics of the landing module. It was too late for them to turn back now.

England returned a couple of minutes later with two plates in hand. She set one of them in front of America and curled up on the couch next to her. “You should eat, love. You’ve done everything you can. They’re over 200,000 miles away, there’s nothing more you can do for them.”

“I know,” America finally said, taking the plate into her lap and picking at the grilled cheese sandwich. “That doesn’t stop me from worrying about them though.”

England shot her a small, sympathetic smile. “Oh, believe me, I know. I can’t tell you how many times my people have done something so incredibly stupid for the sake of scientific progress. Yet, they somehow always pull it off. And I am sure your people will too. If anyone can do this, it’s you.”

An overwhelming warmth swelled in her chest at England’s words and she couldn’t help but smile. “Awww, babe!”

“Yes, yes,” she said dismissively, ignoring the flare of a blush on her cheeks and instead taking a bite into her own sandwich. The couple fell into a comfortable silence and, even though America could still feel the nerves and tension running rampant through her, something in her was calmed by England’s presence.

America ate the grilled cheese slowly, watching the countdown carefully and listening to the frequent updates from Armstrong and Aldrin as the  _ Eagle _ descended. On the screen, the animation continued to play behind the ticking clock and alternated between the  _ Eagle _ in flight and a staged recreation of what the module would look like on the moon.

Five minutes.

All the two nations could do was sit and wait.

Four minutes.

This was it.

Three minutes.

America took a deep breath and continued to remind herself to do so. On the  _ Eagle _ , Aldrin was calling altitude landmark readings too soon - the  _ Eagle _ was descending too quickly.

Two minutes.

Anxiety was replaced with anticipation.

One minute.

America leaned forward, refusing to take her attention away from the TV for even a moment. Even England watched with bated breath.

Zero.

There was a moment of complete silence where it seemed as if time stood entirely still. No one dared to speak or breathe or move.

Then, a grainy, familiar voice broke through.

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The  _ Eagle _ has landed."

Sheer relief flooded through America’s entire being and the tension that had been building for the last twelve minutes shattered.

A laugh bubbled out of her as she fought off a bout of light-headedness and Mission Control gave their response over the broadcast.

"Roger, Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot."

A broad, uncontrolled smile plastered itself on America’s face. They did it. They were on the moon.

Beside her, England squeezed her hand, sounding a little breathless herself. “Congratulations, America.”

America squeezed back and giddily looked back and forth between her girlfriend and the TV screen, finally letting the excitement overwhelm her as she celebrated. It was only one historical step out of many in this operation, but it was a victory nonetheless. They’d made it.

Six hours later, America and England both watched Neil Armstrong take his historic step. A man had walked on the moon.  _ The _ moon.

And four days later, all three astronauts splashed down, safe and sound, in the Pacific Ocean.

The Apollo 11 mission, as nervous as it had made her, had only proven to America that the boundaries of space travel could be pushed. And she was sure that with perseverance, curiosity, and opportunity, she could push it even further.

**Author's Note:**

> Title Origin: A reference to Neil Armstrong’s famous quote “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”, said when he landed on the moon.
> 
> Historical Context: On July 16th, 1969, NASA launched the Apollo 11 mission into space with the Saturn V rocket. On July 20th, the Apollo 11’s landing module (Eagle) successfully landed on the moon at 4:17 p.m EDT. Six hours later, at 10:56 p.m. EDT, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon. The third astronaut, Micheal Collins, remained in the command module (Columbia) while in orbit. The three astronauts successfully returned to Earth on July 24th and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. [SOURCE](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html)
> 
> Easter Egg: Perseverance, Curiosity, and Opportunity are the names of three rovers the United States has sent to Mars. Perseverance and Curiosity are currently actively roving on Mars; Opportunity, unfortunately, hasn’t been in contact with NASA since it got caught in a sandstorm on June 10th, 2018.


End file.
